By The Way Leo
by TexasTurtleFan
Summary: "Dear Traitor..." A letter, brother to brother. TMNT movie-verse. Song fic. Rated for language.


_My first story uploaded. HOORAY! The bold text is Theory of a Deadman's song _**By The Way**_ and the normal text is mine._

_Disclaimer: No, my dream has not come true. I do not own the turtles. Nor do I have any rights to Theory of a Deadman's awesome song._

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Dear Traitor,

Never thought you'd hear from me, did you big brother? Well I'm here to do what I do best. I'm here to tell you off.

That's right, almighty Leonardo. I'm writing this to tell you what no one in the family has the guts to say.

You fucked up Leo. Big time.

I can't believe you did it that way. **A note by the door simply explains. **I can't believe that's all you wrote. I can't believe i**t's all that remains.**

I was the one who found it, that stupid shit you wrote. Telling us that you weren't writing anymore, that you needed to focus on training, that we were a distraction. I was the one who found that.

**It's no wonder why I have not slept in days.**

No one else saw it. I made sure of that. I won't break their hearts like that, even if you're willing to. So I hid that paper in the one place no one will ever find it. Your room.

I'll tell you, it was weird being there, looking at everything you left behind. **The dust on the floor piled up from the years, all those scars and souvenirs. **

Made me realize how fucking stupid I've been. **Now that you're gone it's easy to see, but so hard to believe.**

You say you're not writing anymore. Now I know what you mean.

You're not coming back.

**By the way, **just in case you care, y**ou left without saying good-bye to me.**

And what really makes me sick is **now that you're gone away, all I can think about is you and me.**

Everyone wants you home Leo. And I know if you come back, they'll all act like it fixed everything. Who am I kidding? It probably will.

But you don't deserve that, you bastard. You deserve to see our home the way it is now.

**It's not like before. **Mike doesn't laugh. Don doesn't talk. Splinter has aged by like a million years. You're killing them.

**You left nothing here. **They don't have anything to hope for. You left them open and vulnerable and weak. You swore you'd never do that. Just another of your broken promises.

**It's all disappeared. **Everything we used to be: a team, a family. You just packed it in your backpack and took it to Africa.

And since you're not writing anymore, since you won't read this, I can tell you exactly what I feel.

**It hurts me to see that we've been a lie. **And I just have to ask you Leo.

**Would it have hurt you to try?**

I always thought I was the one who gave up too easily on our brotherhood.

I never dreamed you would do it too.

**By the way you left without saying good-bye to me. **And I hate myself, and you, because n**ow that you're gone away all I can think about is you and me.**

**You and me. **What a joke.

There never was a you and me. That was just another one of your lies. And I hate you for lying to them. To me.

How could you do that to us Leo? How could you just abandon everything you told me you loved?

And I hate you because I don't hate you.

Isn't that just the most pathetic thing you've every heard? But you won't bother reading this. Hell, you're going to see my name on this letter and toss it off whatever mountain you're living on.

I can say whatever the hell I want. So, I'll admit it. Even after this year, after not seeing you, not hearing from you, after reading that fucking letter, I don't hate you. Hell, I'll never bring myself to hate you. Self-righteous, stuck-up son of a bitch that you are, I still love you. I know you're not coming back and I can't change it because you don't give a damn about what I think.

And I miss you even more.

That's probably why it hurts so bad. **It's sad to say that this pain is killing me inside.**

I hate myself for not hating you, for letting you hurt me instead of making me angry.

**But it's sad to say that this pain is keeping me alive. Twisting and turning, it rips through my heart.**

It helps me remember the family I used to have. And it reminds me of what I'm protecting them from. You may not care anymore, but my family still means something to me. And what you did to me makes me even more determined to protect them from hurting like this.

It ain't easy. I have to keep pretending you're coming home any second, that you're still a part of this family. And the whole time, I know the truth. You're as good as dead.

**It's been tearing me apart**

I got a message for you, from that old family, what we used to be.

You betrayed it. You murdered it. And you won't even mourn it. Oh, and **by the way, you left without saying good-bye to me. Now that you're gone away, all I can think about is you and me.**

You, me, and that stupid little family that thought they had a chance.

Michelangelo and his protector.

**You and me**

Donatello and his confidant.

**All I think about now is you and me**

Master Splinter and his prodigy.

**All I think about now is you and me**

Raphael and Leonardo.

**You and me.**

I don't even remembered what it used to feel like to just be **you and me.**

There I said my piece.

**Yeah, **it's dramatic, sappy, pathetic, and useless. But it's there, unlike you.

**Yeah**, you'll never see this and it's stupid for me to hope you will, considering I don't even know you.

You're just a stranger whose name is at the top of this letter. You probably won't recognize mine at the bottom.

If you even read this far, I'll be impressed.

**By they way**, I used to have a brother. Did you know that stranger?

**By the way, **I never gave up on him when his letters didn't come.

**By the way, **I never dreamed he'd give up on me.

Raphael

The letter was read, re-read, and read again. Then it was crumpled, torn, and thrown off the rooftop, floating down to the city below.

It would never make it to the mailbox.

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_Thoughts?_


End file.
